In 2017, Marcus Vaughn, a Black former assembly line staffer at Tesla Inc., filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that the production floor at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, was a "hotbed for racist behavior." A report by Bloomberg claims that Vaughn is now seeking to add hundreds of other workers to the lawsuit, claiming that Tesla failed to address a "pattern and practice of race discrimination" and fostered a hostile work environment.
Vaughn's request for class-action status was filed in court on Monday, and is supported by sworn statements from nearly 240 other Black former employees and contractors. They allege that they also experienced racist incidents, including offensive graffiti and the use of racial slurs such as the "n-word," "boy," and "monkey," within the workplace. Vaughn's lawyers estimate that up to 6,000 Black workers could be eligible to join the case, although not all may seek monetary damages.
If the judge grants Vaughn's request to expand the case, it would increase the potential consequences for Tesla. In April, a San Francisco jury awarded an individual worker $3.2 million in damages for similar discrimination claims. In a previous trial, another worker, Owen Diaz, was initially awarded a $137 million verdict in 2021, but requested a new trial after the judge reduced the damages.
When Vaughn initially filed the lawsuit, Tesla responded with a blog post titled "Hotbed of Misinformation," denying any wrongdoing and stating that the company had terminated three individuals after investigating alleged incidents.
In court declarations, other former workers shared their experiences. A female worker, fired in 2018, stated that a coworker referred to her as having "monkey toes," while another called her "Nicki Minaj," despite there being no resemblance between them other than being Black women.
According to the Bloomber report, another worker, who left Tesla in 2020, claimed that he was instructed to "keep his head down and mind his business" when he complained about offensive language and unfair treatment of Black employees to a White supervisor.
A third worker expressed feeling unwelcome and unsafe even after verbally complaining about being called the N-word, which was ignored.
Tesla has faced multiple high-profile lawsuits related to its treatment of Black employees and contract workers at the Fremont plant, including a suit filed by the state of California in February of the previous year.
Vaughn worked at Tesla from April to October 2017 as a contractor through a staffing agency before being hired directly by Tesla in August of that year.
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